Maina was a member of the Lagos Zone military tribunal set up in 1984 by the administration of General Muhammadu Buhari to try public officers from the Shehu Shagari era who had been accused of embezzling public funds.[2] Appointed Borno State governor in 1990, he lived lavishly and had no patience with accounting procedures, making withdrawals from state funds through "brief notes to accounting authorities at the Treasury.[3] In March 1990 he entertained the Prince and Princess of Wales on a visit to the state.[4]